A growing hobby?

[BarryW]

Since very recently coming back to modelling and joining this forum I have been reading a lot of threads and have been amazed at how many returnees there seem to be.

Do we have a growing hobby again?

Are there also first time youngsters getting involved guaranteeing its future?

Be great if so and amazing in a world dominated by electronic games and media.

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Barry

I think it's been growing for the past 10 years or so. If new kit technology, new modelling techniques and new build and weathering products are anything to go by I'd say we're in a bit of a 'Modelling Renaissance'! As for new modellers I think the hobby's got a fight on it's hands. There is such a vast amount of various entertainment now that maintaining a foothold will be difficult. I hope the hobby continues to attract younger modellers as I see it not only as a great past time and hobby but also it's pretty educational too, research on a model generally leads to a bit of a history lesson.

As for the future of the hobby, it's hard to see where we go from here. Some of the cutting edge/master modellers now are pretty much photo-real! I think a greater emphasis on story telling, composition and originality may be the way forward. I've seen some really clever and imaginative stuff at shows maybe this is the way.

Check this thread out for a happy little new modeller...

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/sci-fi-models/12095-klipkitz-buzz-lightyear-toy-story.html

It's a great hobby and I'm sure with right encouragement many kids would love to build a kit.

Cheers

Paul

[Guest]

Morning Barry

Interesting observation. I have 3 of my four grandsons interested. We look after them when they are not feeling so good & a number of days during holidays. They bring their kits & take over my work station lock stock etc. & build models. Scalpels are hidden.

Thomas 10 years. Good & builds well. Despite warnings he treats paint as though spreading treacle on bread. Bet Vallejo are rubbing their hands.

His Brother Samual 8 years. He is a good case for study by Squadron Fillers. How big can you get a gap to be. A good record here. But he enjoys it all. Plaintive can you do this for me Grandad ? Answer no do it yourself moans like a cat but he then peforms. Lazy. No a good lad.

Matthew 7 years. He is good puts his aircraft together very neatly. Files off all the sprue. Paints with thin coats. He can read the instructions & studies before attempting. Finished his Red Arrow his third model. Mother helped with decals as these are the devil on the Red Arrow all the white strips. When he last left asked if I could get another model for him.

Amazing as this has disturbed their interest in Lego which I think is a very skill less pursuit.

Laurie

[Ian M]

Barry, I was thinking much the same the other day; there are really loads of us that have "returned after a XX year break" or "started when I was a kid then returned again after many years".

I suspect that it has much to do with growing up. At a certain age there are suddenly many other more exciting things to do. Pubs, girls, cars and motorbikes, the girl friend, buy a house, kids, etc then all of a sudden you get the urge to unwind and do something for yourself. Something you can loose yourself in and not worry what others think.

Sure there are other things that can fit this bill, Gardening, and fishing spring to mind. (from my personal choices). However it's great to have some thing where you can just sit down and "fiddle with" for an hour or two, with out having to worry about the weather, digging, or yomping over stock and stone with 50kg of fishing gear on your back.

I am not sure what the average age here on this forum is but I am pretty sure its well over 40! Maybe John has the figures some where.

One things for sure. Its a great hobby and I'm glad I found my way back into it.

Ian M

[Guest]

I returned to the fold about five or six years ago and was amazed at the after market bits and pieces that were available for the kits that were on the market at that time. As Paul has pointed out the fact that there has been leaps and bounds made in the after market world and techniques for various stages has made the whole modelling world a great place to be involved with.

That being said I still think the majority of modellers who are members of this forum(correct me if I am wrong) are those that were brought up with the Airfix kit that was bought from the local newsagent on the corner then hurrying home to open the box to see what was inside. I was one of those. I have joined the 'Renaissance' with a renewed interest and try and involve my son who is 5 years old with modelling. I know that clubs try and involve juniors with a view keeping them interested.

When I was growing up a model was a source of many hours enjoyment especially when Tamiya started to arrive from Japan, those kits were and still are in my opinion one of the best. Now, we or should I say the junior members of our society have so much more to attract their attention such as computer games, online gaming and the likes. A model is more often than not a solo effort with guidence from the worldy wise, where as a computer game with a 'shoot em up' scenario can be linked with less effort than opening an old bottle/tin of modelling paint.

I am glad that we are seeing a move towards the hobby especially with shows like Telford and the likes. I for one will continue to encourage my son to build and paint model kits. But like Laurie has also said a healthy interest in Lego also prevents him staying in one place for too long, but he is a typical 5 year old so I do not hold it against him.

Andy

[stona]

I think many young modellers would be exactly today as many of us were the day before yesterday. I spent happy minutes rather than hours slapping together some pretty appalling models of Bismark,Hood,Spitfires etc. I was quite happy with them and that's what mattered.

I returned to modelling some time ago as my work entailed long periods away followed by what is euphemistically called resting,an opportunity to get some serious modelling done. Being a bit older meant that I had acquired the most important tool in the box,patience. I had also acquired a little bit more cash than my two bob (10p if anyone is that young!) a week pocket money which helped too.

I think the ranks of modellers may be increasing but I don't think that many younger people are taking it up. Some are and I hope they stick with it but the majority are people who are,like many of us,coming back a little older.

Everybody,young or old,needs a bit of encouragement which is why the internet and forums like this are the second most important tool in the box!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

well as i said in my first post i am recently back to the fold. having done an AH-1 and an F-14. my lad is getting into it and every time we go to town it's "can we go to the model shop?" as i got back into it, so too did the father and brother in-law.

as was said above i agree with you. you get introduced to it as a kid, then when you hit 16/17 other things come along, (hormones ) the pub, girls, cars etc. then once you get settled down or find that evenings are you're own again you need something to unwind.

for me it was walking past the model shop and thinking, "i wonder what models they do." that was it. £40 quid later and off home to "play".

problem i have is i can't do a single model on my own as the wife has to get involved. the lad likes to sit an watch, though he has to be told to do it quietly.

great to be back.

now i need a good 1:48 su-25 to do.

[Guest]

I wonder if the older modeller is more interested in the more vintage aircraft and the younger into more the fighter planes etc. I remember WWII aircraft from my fathers interest and i got into it somewhat. I dont have much of an interest in migs etc although i am sure i did one many years ago.

[Guest]

I don't think competition from electronic media neccesarily means that kids are less likely to start modelling, but it might change the subject matter a bit. My son is a typical example, he loves all things xbox, and this has prompted him to buy & make several kits featuring characters & vehicles from the games, all this was unprompted by me and well before i got back into modelling.

I also think that although it might not be an obvious link places like Games Workshop are a great way of getting kids into modelling, if my sons friends are anything to go by, painting figures & scenario building are as much a part of the wargaming experience as actually playing, and a couple of his friends have moved on to "regular" modelling because of it.

[Guest]

I must say that the junior members of our society have so much more to attract their attention such as computer games, online gaming and the likes. A model is more often than not a solo effort with guidence from the worldy wise, where as a computer game with a 'shoot em up' scenario can be linked with less effort than opening an old bottle,tin of modelling paint...!!!

Well said Charlie23, glad that you think the same as me, in fact exactly word for word in my earlier post ha ha!oster_oops:

On a more serious note regardless of what distractions lay out there, some of which were 11 year olds getting scooped up in mindless theft and vandalism as we have seen,I would like to think that this hobby of ours is growing from strength to strength. There are numerous model shops and online forums which are subscribed to and used quite frequently. The great thing about the net is that if there is a particular model that you want and cannot find it in your respective country you can usually find it on the net. Gone are the days of trawling around the model shops on foot or burning fuel on the off chance that the kit may be there.

I would like to think that with the influx of models from South East Asia will allow the hobby to carry on regardless of age of the builder and let us hope that as it increases in advertisement, then we can have builders from right across the board building and enjoying what we can say is a very satisfying and stress relieving hobby, well stressless when you don't lose a part or it needs some fitting to make it right, but that is the fun of modelling

[stona]

I hope that youngsters do become involved,even if they then drop out of the hobby only to become returnees in 2035!

I just feel that there are many more of us,who are now more mature,who had a first bash at this as youngsters 20,30 or 40 years ago than is the case today. Where will the next generation of returnees come from?

When I was a kid a Scalextrix set was about as high tech as it got. I actually got my first model as a compensation after my dad wired the Scalextrix transformer up arse about face and blew it up! After a brief scuffle I got the Spitfire and my little brother got the Hurricane.

I think now is a good time to be involved,kits,paints and other products are better than they ever were. There is an after market that was unimaginable when I first came back to the hobby.

Go to any model show or visit any club and you will see the average age of today's modellers,youngsters are few and far between. Like the rest of you I would do anything I could to encourage and help young people into the hobby but let's be honest,it's not seen as being exactly cool. I hope there is a long time future for the hobby but I have my doubts.

Steve

[papa 695]

Im a school caretaker and i approached the head of technology about the chance of starting an after school model club for the kids he is very enthusiastic about it and said he would ask the kids after the school holidays so fingers crossed they may be interested and get a few youngsters on board

[Gern]

I reckon Steve raised a valid point there. There are lots of reasons why kids are not modelling much today apart from lacking these two things and these have been well covered already in this post.

With all the new stuff available to modellers nowadays, I reckon now is the best time ever in our hobby; but I wonder how many of today's kids will take up modelling when they're older? Like Steve, I wonder if we may be the last full generation of modellers.

Still, it's quite possible our grandparents thought the same about their idea of modelling as a hobby when all the 'new fangled' plastic kits came out. I'm sure a lot of those reckoned that kids wouldn't develop proper modelling skills just by sticking ready made bits together - and therefore they were likely to be the last generation of true modellers!

Gern

[stona]

I hope that project goes well Ian,even if the youngsters don't stick with it now you may just be sewing a few seeds for the future.

Cheers

Steve